Trap-valve.



No. 754,747. PATENTED MAR. 15, 1904.

' 0. GLEWELL.

TRAP VALVE.

A PPLIGATION FILED DBO. 5, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

WITNESSES ,3 J

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Patented March 15, 1904.

UNrrED STATES PATENT OFFICE- CHARLES WALTER CLEWELL, OF CANTON, OHIO;

TRAP-VALVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 754,747, dated March15, 1904.

Application filed Decemberfi, 1903. $erialNo.183,89 9l (N0 model.) i

To all wit/077a it Wmf concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES WALTER GLEW- ELL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Canton, in the county of Stark and'State of Ohio,have invented a new and useful Trap- Valve, of which the following is aspecificationl v The invention relates to a trap-valve for use moreparticularly in connection with natural or other gases the flow of whichis subject to be stopped without warning; and the Object of the deviceis to prevent a resumption of the flow thus stopped by an automaticclosing of the valve when the stoppage occurs and by utilizing a renewedpressure ofthe' gas to hold the valve tightly shut until it is opened byan external manipulation or agency. I attain this object by theconstruction and mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhichi Figure 1 is a plan view of the valve-case with the cap removed,showing the trap; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section showing the valveclosed; Fig. 3, a similar section showing the valve opened, and Fig. 1 adetached perspective view of the trap.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

The case 1 is preferably formed as a tube or short section of pipe, withthe trap-chamber 2 formed on the upper side. The preferably round andvertical trap-port 3 extends from the inlet-channela to the bottom ofthe chamber, preferably near the middle, and the preferably round andvertical valve-port 5 6X'.

tends from the outlet-channel 6 to the bottom of the chamber adjacent tothe trap-port,

with the partition 7 separating the inlet-chan-.

nel and trap-port from the valve-port and outlet-channel.

The trap is composed of the vertical stem 8, the horizontal plate 9,andthe valve proper, 10. The stem is preferably tubular in form anddepends from the middle part of the plate,

which extends across and closes its upper end, except for the smallaperture 11, which is preferably provided in the plate. The stem is madeslightly smaller than the trap-port, in which it is adapted to operateendwise and be guided, so that the gas can at all times leak around-itfromthe inlet-cliannel into the traping from its apex. The valve isadapted to be closed or seated by entering as a wedge in the upperopening of the valve-port. The parts are preferably so arranged andpropor tioned that when the valveq's closed the trapplateis located ashort distance above the bottom of the chamber, and the free end 14 ofthe plate is bent or curved downward to rest on the bottom of thechamber and hold the plate in a horizontal position when the valve isclosed, thus insuring a true resting of the valve in its seat and at thesame time giving free entrance into the chamber for the gas which leaksaround the stem.

V The lift-bar 15 is provided to operate vertically in the aperture 16in the bottom of the case and is preferably provided with the inverted-cone-shaped collar 17, adapted to enter in the correspondingsocket 18 to form a tight joint, andthe coil-spring 191s provided to actbetween the bottom of the case and the knob 20 on the lower end of thebar to hold the same down in its normal position.

The valve being closed, as shown in Fig. 2, a flow of gas through theinlet-channel will leak around the stem of the trap into the cham-' her,and. the pressure therein operating against the plate over the valveacts to force the coneshaped valve more tightly into its seat, andthereby to completely stop any passage of gas through the valve-port. Tomake sure the gas will pass from the inlet-channel into the trapchamberwhen the valve is shut, I prefer to provide the small aperture in theplate, so as not to depend entirely upon the leakage around the stem.

There being a pressure of gas in the inletchannel and permeating intothe trap-chamber to open the valve, the lift-bar is pushed up frombelow, and the upper end striking against the plate lifts the trapupward and opens the valve. The trap is raised until the vents in theside of the stem are brought partly or wholly above the bottom of thechamber, thus permitting a free flow of gas through these vents into thetrap-chamber, thence through the open valve-port, and into theoutlet-channel, as shown by arrows in Fig. 3. The flow of gas upwardagainst the plate or against the gas caught inside of the stem above thevents keeps the trap suspended in the air, as it were, like a balloon,as long as there is any perceptible flow through the valve; but in eventthere is a stoppage of the flow the trap instantaneously drops by itsown weight and the valve is closed only to be opened again by theliftbar, as described.

For the purpose of making the action of the trap quite sensitive, sothat a very slight flow of gas will keep the valve open, itis preferredto make the parts or trap out of very thin brass or other light metal toreduce its weight to a minimum, and for convenience it is preferred toclose the top of the trap-chamber by the screw-cap 21, so that the trapcan readily be removed for cleaning or other attention, and in use it ispreferable to locate the trapvalve near the ordinary valve or stop-cock,so

that whenever the gas has been turned off by the latter the trap-valvecan be readily manipulated immediately after the ordinary valve is againopened.

hat Iclaim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A trap-valve comprising a case having an inlet-channel and anoutlet-channel, a chamber above these channels, a trap-port between theinlet-channel and the chamber 'and an adjacent valve-port between thechamber and the outlet channel; a trap in the chamber composed of atubular stem adapted to 0p crate freelyin the trap-port, there beingvents in the sides of the stem, a plate across the upper end of thestem, and a valve depending from the plate adapted to close thevalve-port when the trap is down; and a spring-held liftbar extendedthrough the bottom of the case and adapted to raise the trap when it isdown.

2. A trap-valve comprising a chamber, a trap-port entering and anadjacent valve-port leaving the bottom of the chamber, and a trap in thechamber composed of a tubular stem adapted to operate loosely in thetrap-port,

there being vents in the sides of the stem, a plate across the top ofthe stem, a valve depending from one end of the plate adapted to closethe valve-port when the trap is down, the other end of the plate beingbent down to rest on the bottom of the chamber when the valve is closed.7

3. A trap-valve comprising a chamber, a trap-port entering and anadjacent valve-port leaving the bottom of the chamber, and a trap in thechamber composed of a tubular stem adapted to operate loosely in thetrap-port, there being vents in the sides of the stem, a plate acrossthe top of the stem, and a valve depending from the plate adapted toclose the valveport when the trap is down.

4. A trap-valve comprising a chamber, a trap-port entering and anadjacent valve-port leaving the bottom of the chamber, and a trap in thechamber composed of a tubular stem adapted to operate in the trap-port,there being vents in the sides of the stem, a plate across the top ofthe stem, means for constant constricted communication between thetrapport and the chamber, and a valve depending from the plate adaptedto close the valve-port when the trap is down.

5. A gas-trap valve comprising a chamber, a trap-port entering and avalve-port leaving the chamber, a trap in the chamber adapted to be heldup by the flow of gas into the chamber, there being a valve on the trapadapted to close the valve-port when the trap is down and to be heldshut by the pressure of gas in the chamber, and means for constantconstricted communication between the trap-port and the chamber.

6. A gas-trap valve comprising a chamber, a trap-port entering and avalve-port leaving the chamber, a trap in the chamber adapted to be heldup by the flow of gas into the chamber, there being a valve on the trapadapted to close the valve-port when the trap is down, and means forconstant constricted communication between the trap-port and thechamber.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES WALTER OLEWELL.

Witnesses:

P. Gr. VVILLIAMs, HARRY FREASE.

